Hydro-massage unit



' United States Patent lnventor Arthur I. Fattor 5380 S. Holly St., Littleton, Colorado 80 I 20 Appl. No. 742,3!4 Filed July 3, I968 Patented Sept. 29, I970 HYDRO-MASSAGE UNIT 4 Claims, 7 Drawing Figs.

U.S. Cl 128/66 Int. Cl A6lh 9/00 Field of Search 128/66; 4/180 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,447,123 8/1948 .lones l28/66UX Primary Examiner- L. W. Trapp Attorney-R. H. Galbreath ABSTRACT: A flexible water conduit, attachable at its intake extremity to a pressure source. A flexible air conduit axially encloses said water conduit for a portion of the length of the latter, both conduits terminating at their discharge extremities in a hand-held nozzle housing in which air is drawn through said air conduit, by a jet of water discharging from said water conduit, to produce a high velocity vibrating stream of intermixed air and water. The housing is provided with a flap valve which can be manually forced into said stream to control the discharge characteristics of said stream.

Patent ed Sept. 29, 1970 jig] :1

INVENTOR. ARTHUR: P. FATTOR Wgk ATTORNEY 1 likenesses-mm This invention relates to hydro-therapy, and more particulady to a portable unit for applying a high-velocity stream of waterbubblesto the human body for hydraulically massaging the tissues and muscles for therapeutic purposes.

The principal object of the presentinvention is to provide a unit of the above type which can be quickly and easily applied to householdplumb ing fixtures for use in a patient's home so as to reduce or' eliminate the necessity for attendance to the physiotherapy departments of conventional hospitals.

A further object is to provide a portable hydro-massage jet housing which can be conveniently held in the palm of the hand to: direct and control a powerful aerated water stream against the body of a patient seated in a bath tub.

Other objects andadvantages reside in the detail construction of the invention, which is designed for simplicity, economyand efficiency. These will become more apparent from the following description.

In the following detailed description of the invention, reference is made to the accompanying drawing which forms a part hereof. Like numerals refer to like parts in all views of the drawing and throughout the description.

In the drawing:

FIG. I is a partially broken-away, perspective view of the hydro-massage unit of this invention asit would appear in use;

FIG. 2 is a substantially full size, top, plan view of a jet housingemployed on the discharge extremity of the unit of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 i s a similarly enlarged, longitudinal, sectional view, taken on the line 3-3, FIG '2;

, FIGS. 4 and 5 are cross-sectional views through the jet housingftake'n on the lines 4-4 and 55, respectively, FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged, detail-,front viewof a jet disc, to be later described.'contained in'the jet housing of FIG. 3; and

FIG. 7 is a diametric sectional view of the jet disc, taken on the line r-zrro. 6. i

The portable, hydro-massage unit of this invention comprises a molded, plastic, jet housing-I0 from the rear extremity of which a relatively long; flexible polyvinyl water tube 11 extends to a conventional, faucet coupling- I2 of any suitable type which can be conveniently slipped over orattached to the shower outlet of a conventional household bath tub. The

,loweriportion of the water tube' 11 is enclosed in, and surrounded by, a relatively short, flexible, corrugated, polyvinyl air tube l3, of larger diameter than the watertubell, which also extends to the housing l0. The air tube 13 is of sufficient lengthyto extend well'above the maximum' water line of the bathtub, when the coupling*l2'is in place on the shower outlet, so as to prevent entry of water from the tub.

, The upper extremity of the' air tube 13 may be left open but isprcferably closed by a double-diameter coupling sleeve 14 which maintains the extremities of the two tubesll and 13 in concentric relation and'w'hich is perforated, as indicated at 15, to allow air to'freely enter the air tube 13. A high velocity jet stream of intermixed air and water discharges from the forward extremity ofthe housing 10, as shown at 16in FIG. 1, the

body massaging purposes.

The rear extremity of the housing l0'is provided with an internally-corrugated tube socket 17 into which the corrugated lower extremity of the air tube is interfitte'dso as to axially align the air tube withan elongated, cylindriealair chamber 18 in the housing which substantially corresponds in diameter to thedian'leter of the air tube 13. An elongated, preferably metallic, tubular water nozzle l9of less diameter than the air chamber 18 is concentrically supported therein by meanspf radial. axially-extending, spaced-apart, supporting finsl20. i

The rear which enter and interlock with i the lower extremity of the water hose II, as shown in FIG. 3.

The forward extremity of the air chamber 18 is closed by an end wall22 having a jet stream opening 23 positioned in axial alignment with the water nozzle 19. The forward extremity of extremity of the water riozzle 19" is reduced in diameter and provided with hose-retaining nipple ridges 21 concentrically surround the pointed extremity of a jet spreading cone 28 which is formed, or otherwisemounted, on the disc 26 so as to project its larger diameter axially forward.

The jet disc is removably secured in place in the counterbore of the water nozzle 19 in any suitable manner, such as by means of a conventional snap ring 34, so that the cone 28 is completely surrounded by the forward extremity of the water nozzle 19, as shown in FIG. 3.

The water discharges from the ports 27 in a plurality of solid high velocity jets which strike the outwardly inclined sides of the cone 28 and are spread into a high velocity cylinder of water which is directed across the annular air discharge passage 29 of the chamber 18, and into the jet stream opening 23 to create a venturi effect to draw air from the air chamber and intermix the air, as minute bubbles, with the water jets discharging from the water ports 27 to form the powerful, high velocity, intermixed jet stream 16.

The two sides of the housing are extended forwardly from the end wall 22 to form two laterally spaced side guide plates 24 and 25 for confining the sides of the jet stream. The character and force of the discharging jet stream can be controlled by means of a flap valve 30 which is pivotally suspended from a horizontal pivot pin 31 extending between the side guides 24 and 25 above the jet opening 23. The flap valve is forced upwardly by the discharging stream and can be forced downwardly, as shown in broken line in FIG. 3, into the stream by the thumb of the user, as shown in FIG. 1. The upward movement is limited to a horizontal position above the jet stream, as shown in solid line in FIG. 3, by means of stop shoulders 32 formed on the inner faces of the side guides 24 and 25, as shown in FIG. 5. When forced completely down, the flap valve substantiallycloses the jet opening 23.

The lower face of the flap valve is provided with a concave, arcuate depression 33 in axial alignment with the discharging jet to direct and guide the latter when in contact therewith. It can be seen that, when the flap valve is in the fully raisedposition, the maximum force of the jet stream will be directed for wardly and can be pointed in any desired direction for massage purposes by simply aiming the housing in the desired directions. The jet can also be directed, confined, and forcecontrolled by simply depressing the flap valve, into the stream as indicated in FIG. 1. The entrapped air in the jet stream forms interstices or bubbles therein which create a high frequency vibrating effect when the stream impinges upon the body tissues, which greatly facilitates the massaging action of the jet stream.

While a specific form of the invention has been described and illustrated herein, it is to be understood that the same may be varied within the scope of the appended claims, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Iclaim:

I. A hydro-massage unit comprising:

a. a portable jet housing provided with ajet stream opening;

b. a flexible water tube terminating at its one extremity in saidhousing and having a coupling element at its other extremity for connecting said tube to a pressurized water source;

c. an elongated, tubular water nozzle in said housing connected at its one extremity to saidwater tube and axially directed toward said stream opening at its other extremity to direct a water jet through said opening;

. an elongated substantially cylindrical air chamber in said housing in circumferential spaced relation to said nozzle;

e. an annular air passage opening from said air chamber and surrounding said water jet between said nozzle and said opening; and

f. a flexible air tube mounted upon and extending longitu- A hydro-massage unit as described in claim 1 having: a flap valve pivotally mounted on said housing forwardly of said opening upon a transverse axis so that said valve can be manually depressed into said discharging stream to control the character of the latter.

3. A hydro-massage unit as described in claim 1 having: a. a valve guide plate projecting forwardly from said housing at each side of said opening; and

b. a pivot axis mounted in and extending between said guide plates above said opening, said flap valve being pivotally mounted on said pivot axis and depending downwardly therefrom between said guide plates forwardly of said opening so as to be urged forwardly and upwardly by the discharging stream.

. A hydro-massage unit as described in claim 3 having: stop means for limiting the forward and upward movement of said flap valve at a point above the axis of the discharging stream so that it may be manually depressed into said stream and toward said opening for controlling the volume and direction of the stream. 

